Improvement in depot-platforms



L. J. SWETT. Depot Platform.

No. 201,57l. Patented March 19; 1878.

WITNESSES- INVENTEIK NEFIEBG, PHOm -ITHDGRAPHER, WASI i'NGTON DV 0. N

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIGE.

LEVI J. SWETT, OF. ST. ALBANS, VERMONT.

IMPROVEMENT IN DEPOT-PLATFORMS.

Specification forming part of LettersPatent No. 201,571, dated March 19, 1878; application filed January 26, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEVI J. SWETT, of St. Albans, in the county of Franklin and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Depot Platforms; and I do hereby declare that the fol-- lowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad 'to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My'invention relates to an improvement in the manner of building and the arrangement of the platforms designed for the use of passengers and the handling of freight in those railroad depots and station houses where economy and convenience in railroad management require that both objects should be combined in a single building.

The design adopted and employed by all railroad companies (without, as I am aware, an exception) is, whenever a single depot or station-house is appropriated to the double use of passenger and freight business, to locate the rooms intended for each department at either end of the building, and then to extend from each of these rooms to the main railroadtrack, which runs parallel to them, a platform adapted to the respective requirements of each,

the passenger-platform being built low and on a level with the floor of the waiting-room, or about one foot above the road-bed, while the height of the freight platform and room is intended to be on a level with the floor of the freight or baggage car, which averages about four feet above the bed of the road, thus creating a difference of about three feet in the heights of the respective platforms. For convenience in passing from one platform to the other, an inclined plane or steps, which extend the entire width of the platform, are used.

The platforms, as thus arranged, present a feature which is very objectionable and dangerous to the traveling public, frequently causing serious accidents and loss -of life. Should persons attempt to enter a car moving along the main track in the direction from the low to the high platform, they are liable, before they have succeeded in fully landing up- I on the lower step of the passenger-car, to be carried along by their grasp upon the car-rail until they are suddenly met by the inclined plane or steps between the two platforms, when they arecompelled either to loosen their grasp upon the car at the risk of being irresistibly drawn in between the side of the car and the outside edge of the freight-platform, and thence to fall beneath the car and upon the track, running risk of great personal injury or death by being crushed beneath the wheels, or, if they are able to retain their hold upon the car, they are exposed to the liability of being crushed between the car and the high platform. j V

The object of my invention is to so arrange the two platforms and adapt them to each other that all danger of accident such as is above described is effectually prevented, and at the same time the effectiveness of the arrangement of the platforms is practically increased. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, of my improved railroad-depot platform.

A represents the railroad-depot or stationhouse, which is divided into the rooms B for passengers, and O for freight. a a. is the low or passenger platform 5 c, the high or freight platform; 01, the steps by which the ascent is made from the platform a to the platformc. e is the portable bridge which is intended to connect the platform a and the floor of the freight or baggage car standing upon the main track f, for the purpose of moving more easily heavy merchandise over that part of the low platform a which lies between the high platform 0 and the track f.

The width of the platform a I prefer to make ten feet between the waiting-room B and the outside edge adjacent to the track f, and that of a four feet between the front of the platform 0 and its outside edge. Its height is twelve inches above the road-bed, and it is intended to extend at least the entire length of the depot or station-house A.

The width of the platform 0 I prefer to make six feet, its height the same as that of the floor of the freight or baggage car, and its length corresponds with that of the freightroom 0.

The dimensions of these platforms may, however, be varied according to the requirements of the business, provided their relative position to each other is not materially changed, and the platform a is allowed to eX- tend in front of the platform 0 and along the track f a sufficient distance to accommodate passengers in entering and leaving the car.

The portable bridge 6 should be made of any light, strong, and suitable material, and is sufficiently long to be supported upon the platform 0 and the floor of the freight or baggage car. It is of any width desired. This arrangement secures to the passengers all the advantages of convenience and safety which belong to the common low platform at present used in those depots designed for the sole accommodation of passengers, inasmuch as it extends along the track the entire length of the building, with a width sufficient for all practical purposes for entering and leaving the car. At the same time the elevated portion of the platform 0, which is intended to be used for freight orbaggage,ispracticallybetter adapted to its use than those whose width extends over the entire space between the freight-room C and the track f, for the reason that the lighter packages can be more easily and rapidlypassed between the car and the platform 0 by a person standing upon the low platform a, which intervenes between them, because they are taken and delivered at a height above the floor upon which he stands, which is best adapted to his strength and convenience on account of his advantageous position for using his arms, while the portable bridge 0, which can be obtained at a moments notice, is a most simple and effective arrangement for conveying the heavier merchandise to and from the car and platform 0.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The platform a, of suitable width, extended along the front of the platform 0, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The two platforms at and c, of different heights and widths, and the former extended in front of the latter, in combination with passenger and freight rooms B and O in single depot A, substantially as described.

3. The arrangement of the two platforms at and c, as described, by which the narrow and low platform a intervenes between the high and wider platform 0 and the railroad-track j, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affixmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEVI J. SWETT.

Witnesses JAMES LEwIs, CHARLES E. ALLEN. 

